Balanced door organization with pressure release



w. s. BATES 2,581,783

BALANCED DOOR ORGANIZATION WITH PRESSURE RELEASE Jan. 8, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed March 24, 1948 INVENTOR VV/LMOT 5'. BHTES ATTO RN EYS Jan. 8, 1952 w. s. BATES 2,581,733

BALANCED DOOR ORGANIZATION WITH PRESSURE RELEASE Filgd March 24, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 W/LMOT s. BHTES ATTORN EYS Patented Jan. 8, 1952 UNITED PATENT OFFICE CED DOOR ORGANIZATION WITH PRESSURE RELEASE Wilmot S. Bates, Jamestown, .N. Y., assignor to Ellison Bronze-v Company, Inc., Jamestown, N. Y., a corporation of New York .AppIicationMarch Zi, 1948, "Serial No. 16,766

'10 Claims. (01. .20 -16-) The invention relates to a balanced door organization. A balanced door has combined sliding and swinging movement in its opening and olosing movement such that a portion of the door adjacent the hinge structure moves inwardly of the door frame and the other portion thereof swings outwardly. As a consequence external air pressures on the door are fully or partially balanced thereby making it :easy to open the door even in strong winds. It is "desirable to equip such adoor with a so-called panic-release so that in "the event of fire, the door will heopened under the pressure of people pressing against the inner "face thereof. The balanced door organization of theinvention pro- FidESTfOI :such release.

it is an object or the invention to :construct a'jbalanced door organization with new and novel release means which permits the door to openin the 'event'pressure is applied against the inner face thereof "such as by a person pressing therea'gainst. I

Another object of the invention is to construct a balanced door organization having a pressure release :which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and effective in use.

A-still further object-is toconstruct a balanced door organization having pressure releasing means which enables the door to be opened upon excessive pressure being exerted upon the inner face-thereof and provides a movable panel section for the door frame.

Another object of the inventionis to construct apressure-release unit for a balanced door or aniza-tion-as an article of manufacture.

objects of the invention will be more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment in which:

Figure '1 -is :a view of the upper and lower portions of a door showingthe essential parts of the balanced door mechanism for mounting the door;

Figure 2 is a top view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1 but'wi'th-the door partially opened;

FigureB is-a view of-the door as it opens upon release of the pressure releasing means when excess pressure is applied against the inner face of door;

yiFig'ure 4 is a horizontal section throughthe' ='ljintel not -a door frame and pressure release means and frame 'lintel taken on line -55 of Figure .4.

The pressure release means is designed for use with the balanced type of door construction such as shown in the Ellison Patents 2,019,526,

2,019,527 and 2,019,528. The door mounting includesia pair of arms 10 and H, one end of each of which pivotally mounted by any suitable pivot means to the frame of the door. The pivot means'shown is a pivot tube 12 to which the arms are secured and pivotally mounted at the upper end to the lintel of the door frame and the lower end pivotally mounted in the floor. The tube .is mounted within the door frame post [3. The other end of each arm carries pivot means 1-5 and 16 which .is received by pivot bearings. 11 and 18 secured to the door 2.0 at a point betweenthe vertical edges thereof. Spring means I9 .is ordinarily used ,to propel thepivot tube and .hence the farms in an outward direction which is clockwise as viewed in .Figure 2. The door carries a guide means 22 upon the upper edge off the door .shown as a guide roller which is received .in ,a guidechannel .23 having front side wall 24 and rear side wall .25. .The channelissecured .to the lintel or..cornice of the door frame and .for the purpose of better ap-- pearance is usually recessed into thedoor frame lintel. The guide means guides and pivots the door so that in the normal opening movement. of the door," it .pivots, on "the [guide means and as the arm swings inwardly or rearwardly, the portion of the door at the arms swings inwardly therewith. Continued opening movement of the door combines pivoting and .side-wise movement thereof with the guide meansrolling or sliding in the guide channel so that the portion of the door at the arms swings inwardly of the door frame and the rest of the door swings outwardly. Because of the describedmovement of the door with a portion moving inwardly and another portion outwardly wind pressures upon the inwardly swung door portion aids in opening the door whereas the wind pressure on the outwardly swinging portion tendsto resist openin of the door and the two pressures either fully or partially balance each other depending upon the relative size of the portions so that the door is easily opened under any wind conditions.

"Since in a balanced door organization a portion thereof swings inwardly and another portion swings outwardly, a groupof excited people pressing against the inner face ofthe doorzin an attemptto get out maypreventthe doorfrom beingo'pened. It fissforthis reason that pressure that when the door has been opened through release of the pressure release means, the spring will hold the door open whereas in the usual doors the closing spring will always tend to close the door.

The pressure release means is illustrated in detail in Figures 4 and. 5 and it includes primarily a movable wall section 28 for the front side wall 24 of the guide channel 23. A section of the guide channel wall is left open or removed and the movable section normally closes the same so that normal balanced door operation is obtained. The movable section may be rendered movable when pressure is applied thereagainst by any suitable means, however, that shown is a pivoted wall section 28 mounted upon a vertical pivot 29. Releasable holding means is utilized to hold or retain the movable wall section in alignment with the channel wall 24 so that an unbroken side wall for the guide channel is provided. The releasable holding means may take any form and yields or releases when pres. sure is exerted upon the movable or pivoted channel wall section by the guide roller 23 when pressure is exerted on the inside of the door and swings open so that the guide roller passes therethrough. In the construction particularly illustrated the releasing means is carried by the pivoted channel wall section or portion and includes a recess 30 in a lateral wall 3| into which recess a plunger '32 is projected by a spring 33. A threaded screw 34 backing up the spring may be adjusted to vary the release tension of the spring upon the plunger. 2

The mounting for the movable or pivoted section of the guide channel wall is preferably carried by a box orplate 31 having lateral walls 3| and 38 forming a passage therebetween which is wide enough to pass the guide means or roller 22 therethrough when the pivoted section has opened and swung adjacent to the lateral wall 38 as shown in dot and dash linesin Figure 4. The side wall may carry an ear 39 to provide support for the end of the pivot 29. The box may be secured to the lintel of the door frame F by screws 40; The lateral wall 38 may havea set back or pocket 36 to receive the releasable holding means.

The guide channel is preferably recessed into the lintel or cornice of the door frame in order to conceal the same. For the sake of improved appearance therefore, the outer portion of the plate carries a vertical pivot 42 at the lateral wall 3! and in a recess M from the passage between the two lateral walls. This pivot carries a. frame panel section 43 which conceals the passage between the lateral walls and the outer face of the frame lintel E presents a continuous surface. This pivoted frame panel section maybe releasably held in closed position by any means, thatshown being aqspring clip 44 preferably carried'by the frame panel section and engaging the lateral wall 38 toi'normally hold this; sec- 4 tion in alignment with the outer panel of the door frame lintel. The clip is readily releasable when engaged by the guide roller 22 so that it swings open to permit the guide roller to pass therethrough.

The pressure release means for the door is preferably constructed as a unit or box.- It'is therefore an article of manufacture which may be sold separately from the door or may be a part of the complete door organization. Many times balanced doors are sold initially without the pressure release mechanism and in that event if it should later be desired it is a simple matter to remove or cut, away a section of the front side 'wall 24 of the guide channel as well as a section of the outside panel of the lintel of the door frame and insert the pressure release mechanism which is secured to the lintel by screws 40. The

channel and door frame lintel may be made with removable sections for. insertion of the pressure release box if it should later be desired. T

This invention is presented to fill a need for improvements in a balanced door organization with pressure release. It is understood that various modifications in structure, aswell as changes in mode of operation, assembly, and manner of use, may and often do occur to those skilled in the art, especially after benefiting from r the teachings of an invention. Hence, it will'be understood that this disclosure is illustrative of preferred means of embodying the invention in useful form by explaining the construction, operation and advantages thereof. 1

What is claimed is: I

1. A balanced door organization comprising a door adapted to be mounted in-a door frame, a. pair of arms, vmeans pivotally .mounting one end of each arm to a door frame, means pivotally mounting the other end of each arm to thedoor at a point between the vertical edges thereof, .a channel having guiding walls adapted to" be mounted on the cornice of a door frame above the door, a guide means secured to the door at a point spaced from the pivot means'for the arm and movable in the. channel whereby the-arms swing inwardly and the door is adapted to "normally open and close with a compound sliding and swinging movement, a movable sectionin the wall of the channel at the position of the guide means when the door is closed, and means retaining the movable section in alignment with the channel wall and releasable upon pressure being exerted upon the door to pass the guide means therethrough whereby the arms and door swing outwardly upon the door frame pivotal mounting means.

2. A balanced door organization as in claim 1 in side panel in substantial alignment with they movable channel section. V

4. A balanced door organization as in claim-l including the channel being recessedinto the door frame, and a section of the frameilside panel in substantial alignment.

5. A balanced door organization as in claiml including the channel being recessed into the door frame, and an opening intheioutsidewal-l of the channel, and a box insertable in the door:

frame having a section of channel-wall, mounted 5 upon a vertical pivot, and a frame panel section mounted upon a vertical pivot.

6. A releasable channel wall for use with a balanced door mechanism utilizing a guiding channel to be mounted in the lower face of the cornice of a door frame and having side walls and a side wall having a recess comprising a plate, means to fixedly secure the same to the under side of the cornice a pivot carried by the plate, a channel wall section mounted upon the pivot and having a height the same as a channel side wall and a length corresponding to the channel side wall recess, and means releasably retaining the wall section in position.

7. A releasable channel wall as in claim 6 including means to adjust the releasing pressure of the releasable retaining means.

8. A releasable channel wall as in claim 6 including a second pivot carried by the plate spaced from the channel wall section pivot, and a frame panel section mounted upon the second pivot.

9. A releasable channel wall as in claim 6 the plate including a side wall at each side edge of the plate forming a passage therebetween, the pivot for the channel wall section being located at one end of the passage and adjacent a side wall.

10. A releasable channel wall as in claim 6 the plate including a side wall at each side edge of the plate forming a passage therebetween, the pivot for the channel wall section being located at one end of the passage and adjacent a side wall, a second pivot carried by the plate at the other end of the passage and in theother side wall, and a frame panel section mounted upon the second pivot.

WILMOT S. BATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,019,528 Ellison Nov. 5, 1935 2,530,263 Peremi Nov. 14, 1950 

